Three teams advance on penultimate day, while Switzerland hold on to stay alive

MUNICH (Germany) - There are just two spots remaining to make it out of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Pre-Qualifiers Second Round as Iceland, Portugal and Sweden advanced from Tuesday's action.

Portugal clinched a top-two spot in Group C with a hard-fought 80-74 victory over Luxembourg having seen a double-digit cushion whittled down into a one-score game late on. The group hosts held on in a result that also sealed Sweden's qualification with Luxembourg eliminated from contention.

Sasa Borovnjak played another pivotal role for Portugal with 17 points as they overturned a half-time deficit to move clear in the third. Luxembourg then rallied with Clancy Rugg leading the resistance with 20 points, though the comeback effort came up short.

Meanwhile, Iceland joined Montenegro into the next phase of the Qualifiers as they ended the hopes of Denmark with an 89-73 triumph, in Podgorica. Elvar Fridriksson starred with 21 points along with 8 assists and 5 steals with Aegir Steinarsson adding 17 points without a miss from the bench.

The top two spots in Group F in Skopje are still to be decided after Switzerland kept their hopes alive by beating Slovakia 65-60, despite nearly surrendering a 22-point lead.

Slovakia went on an incredible 23-2 run across quarters to close within a single point with 2:04 remaining, but Switzerland responded down the stretch to see out the win as they closed their campaign with a 2-2 record with their fate out of their hands.

They will advance if North Macedonia beat Slovakia in the final game on Wednesday or if Slovakia either fail to reach their winning margin target of at least 15+ points or win by 28+ points, which would see the hosts eliminated.

5/6 games played

Two other games take place to round out the Pre-Qualifiers Second Round action on Wednesday as Denmark and Luxembourg play for pride as they search for first wins against Montenegro and Sweden, respectively.

FIBA